


Siren Song

by Atlas_M_33



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Implied Murder, M/M, Not Disney mermaids, Siren Keith (Voltron), You'll see what I mean, mermaid keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 02:18:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15786924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atlas_M_33/pseuds/Atlas_M_33
Summary: James knows he shouldn’t be going down to the water this late.Of course, that’s when he hears the song.Or, James meets a mermaid.





	Siren Song

**Author's Note:**

> This was beta-d by the amazing Nasigorengart who treats me a my shenanigans much better than we deserve!!! Love you lots!!!!

James knows, locking the door to his apartment and heading down the sidewalk, that he shouldn’t be going to the water this late. He has work in the morning, a class later in the afternoon that he’ll doze through if he doesn’t sleep now, and at least three papers that he could be working on. The last thing he should be doing is taking a 3AM stroll to the pier. 

He keeps walking anyway, driven by the itch under his skin that says he needs to get out of the confines of his apartment before he explodes.

He’s headed down the boardwalk, halfway to the benches on the end when he hears it: a haunting melody that sweeps over him and thrums in his bones, seeping in to replace the itching that forced him outside in the first place. He turns, following the song, and something glints red in the water just off the edge of the wharf, flashing in the corner of his eye and drawing him to the lowest part of the dock.

  
There’s a mermaid looking up at him from the water, bright eyes the color of amethyst glowing in the moonlight, dark hair dripping around its face.

The singing hasn’t stopped.

  
“Holy shit.” The words slip from his lips, softly and without permission. “Hi.”

It smiles, still humming, and pushes up closer to the dock, raising its hands and pulling itself up far enough to rest its arms on the wood, crossing them and looking up at James as he kneels down to be eye level with it. Slowly, the song fades out.

“Hello.” Its voice is hypnotic, perfectly suited to the creature it belongs to. As it smiles up at him from the water his vision blurs, and for a split second he gets the impression that it has far too many teeth for something its size. It moves again, brushing a strand of wet hair behind a gracefully pointed ear, and everything snaps back into focus. Whatever James thought he saw is gone again, leaving him hanging on the creature‘s words. “Keith.”

“Hm?”

The mermaid snorts gently, and even that has a supernatural grace to it. “My name. It’s Keith.”

James feels his eyes widen, and he nearly chokes on his tongue in his haste to reply. “James. My- my name is James.”

The creature, Keith, quirks its lips up in a small smile, and James feels another section of his brain shut down. “And what business do you have being out this late James? It’s dangerous to be by yourself on the beach.”

His head feels foggy, like it’s been stuffed full of cotton, but somehow he manages to scrape together enough brain cells to reply. “I’m not alone though. I’m with you.”

“I guess you are.” The grin returns with a vengeance, and again James' skin crawls at the sight of too sharp teeth before his horror is glossed over by the haze in his mind. Suddenly he feels bold enough to speak again.

“You’re beautiful.” Keith giggles, looking back down to the rough wood of the dock, and tapping a single sharp looking nail against the surface.

James reaches out then, pushing another lock of hair out of the way and running a careful finger over the elegant arch of one of Keith’s eyebrows.

Keith closes his eyes, and the air fills with music as he resumes his humming.

It’s a catchy tune, slow and haunting and somehow familiar. “That’s a beautiful song. Will you teach it to me?” Keith’s eyes slip open again slowly, and all James can see of them is a flash of purple under a dark set of lashes.

“I could.” There’s a flash in the corner of James' eye, like something sharp glinting in the moonlight. “For a price.”

“Yeah? What’ll it cost?”

Keith’s eyes flash again, the color glaring as the light catches it. There’s mischief in his smile. “A kiss.”

James smiles, reaching down to cradle one of the hands resting on the dock and lifting it to brush a kiss against the back of Keith’s knuckles. The skin is rough, and as James sits back up he notices it’s because of the tiny red scales scattered sparsely across the back of Keith’s hand.

The amused quirk to Keith’s smile slips, and then his lips fall into a pout. “No. A real one. It’ll cost you a real kiss.”

He laughs, reaching down at the same time that Keith reaches up, their lips connect sweetly as the sound of the waves fades into the background.  
  
James feels clammy arms wrap around his shoulders for only a moment before they tighten - and then Keith tugs him down into the depths, the cold bite of seawater against his face the only indication of this until he opens his eyes to see nothing but the darkness that stretches infinitely under the waves.  
  
And Keith.  
  
He’s even more beautiful like this, with his hair floating freely about his face and the small scales that scatter across the bridge of his nose glinting like diamond dusted freckles.  
  
James reaches out, cradling Keith’s jaw and rubbing his thumb along a cheekbone that reminds him of the elves in the stories he used to read. Keith raises his own hand, holding James' in place as he turns to press a kiss to his palm.  
  
His lips curl in a shy smile and James has to remind himself not to gasp and suck in a lungful of seawater. The moonlight plays across his features, casting him in an ethereal light.  
  
And then something shifts.  
  
Keith’s features twist into a snarl, his irises flaring with unnatural light before the blacks of his pupils are spilling out to fill the rest of his eyes. His already sharp nails are stretching into talons, gleaming silver for a split second before they’re buried in James' arm, trapping it in Keith’s grip.  
  
James screams, water flooding his throat and smothering the sound.  
  
Keith lunges.  
  
Everything goes black.

* * *

  
The cave’s entrance looms just ahead of him, a gaping wound in the otherwise pristine white surface of the cliff-face. Keith drifts towards it, letting the icy current sweep him inside. The sun has just begun to rise, morning rays leaking through the natural gaps in the ceiling of the cavern. The light glints off the sea glass embedded in the walls, splitting to illuminate the main section of the cave network. The flow of water makes a soothing background noise, swishing peacefully through unseen crevices in the rock. It’s quiet.

Too quiet.

Suddenly there are arms in his peripheral vision, shooting out of a hidden corner to wrap securely around Keith’s waist, pulling him back against a solid chest. Keith’s shriek of surprise quickly becomes a delighted laugh and he tips his head slightly to the side so that Shiro can rest his chin on Keith’s shoulder the way he likes. He sinks into the embrace gratefully, trusting his mate to keep him afloat.

  
Shiro turns his face, nuzzling behind Keith’s ear and raising a hand to run through his hair in a feeble attempt to smooth out the tangles whipped into it by the current. “How was hunting?”

  
Keith smiles, and the teeth in his mouth are sharp and numerous.  
  
“Easy.”


End file.
